Ribbon feed for printing presses



Aug. 11, I925. 1,549,357

J. J. GREEN I RIBBON FEED FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed May 1, 1924 Patented Aug. 11, 1925,

UNITED STATES JOHN J. GREEN, SYRACUSE, N W YORK.

RIBBON FEED FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

Application filed May 1, 1924. Serial No: 710,299.

To all whom it may OOH-067%."

Be it known that I, JOHN J. GREEN, a citizen of the United States of America, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ribbon Feed for Printing Presses, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description. 7

This invention relates to a printing press in which the printing is transferred from the type to the paper through the medium of an inked ribbon and a pressure roller reciprocally movable along the ribbon and sheet under sufficient. pressure to transfer the type through the ribbon to the sheet.

The type are usually set by hand in a suitable supporting frame or chase with their type faces uppermost in a horizontal plane to. cooperate with a reciprocally movable pressure roller and an intervening inked ribbon for imparting the type impressions to the undersideof a superposed sheet resting on the ribbon.

In machines of this character in which the individual letter and envelope are printed and addressed by one and the same operation of the pressure roll, it is necessary to frequently change the type for printing the names and addresses of the different addressees which requires the temporary removal or displacement of the ribbon from the type by hand and results in soiling the fingers with the ink from the ribbon and also requires the rewinding of the inked ribbon upon one or, the other of the supporting drums.

The main object of my present invention is to provide a swinging carrier for one of the drums mounted upon theframe of the machine in such, manner that it may be swung vertically and longitudinally of the frame to impart a similar movement of the inking ribbon or web from a position over the type to a position at one end thereof without unwinding the ribbon from either of its drums so that when the type are replaced the swinging frame with the ribbon attached thereto may be returned by hand to its normal position ready for a repetition of the printing operations.

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the ribbon carrier will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a top plan of a printing machine showing the ribbon carrier in its operative position.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same machine and Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section view taken on line 3,-3, Figure 1, the dotted lines indicating the position of the ribbon and frame when displaced from the type. 1

As illustrated, this machine comprises a horizontal supporting bed or frame 1 adapted to rest upon a table or other suitable support and provided with opposite lengthwise guides 2 along which is movable a sliding carriage -3.

Mounted in the frame -1- between the guides 2 is a type-supporting frame or printcrs chase et carrying a plurality of rows of type 5-- which are removable and replaceable by different type and are held in operative position by the usual furniture or quoins 6, Figure 3, the type faces being disposed in a substantially horizontal plane slightly above that of the furniture and frame so as toallow their impressions to be clearly made upon the paper through the medium of a superposed inking ribbon 7.

The carriage -'3 is provided with a handle 8 by which it may be reciprocated along the guides -2 of the frame -l and upon this carriage is mounted a pressure roller 9 extending transversely of the frame -l and adapted to press the ribbon and paper thereon against the face of the type as the carriage is reciprocated along the frame for impressing the type upon the underside of the paper. 7 The particular feature of my invention however, consists in the means for supporting and operating the inking ribbon 7 which is movable lengthwise of the frame across the upper face of the type and for this purpose, its opposite ends are mounted upon suitable drums -10- and 11 located at opposite ends of the type-supporting frame 4 and preferably below the horizontal plane of the type so that the intermediate portion of the inking ribbon may travel in a horizontal plane parallel with and directly over the type faces.

The drum -lO- is preferably mounted upon and between opposite sides of the frame 1 and is provided at one end with a ratchet wheel -12- adapted to be engaged by a pawl 13 which in turn is mounted upon a weighted lever -1&.'

This lever is loosely mounted upon the adjacent end of the drum l0 and has its upper end projecting into the path of movement of an operating pin -l5 on the sliding carriage -'-3 to cause a sliding endwise shifting movement of the inking ribbon at each return movement of the carriage, and thereby to present a fresh part of the printing ribbon to the type face at each printing operation.

The drum 11 is mounted upon a U-shaped frame 16 having its opposite arms disposed at opposite sides of the main frame 1- and the ends of said arms pivotally connected by bolts -17 and spacing sleeves l8 to the adjacent sides of the main frame nearer to the front end of the machine than to the rear end thereof or just at the rear of the normal starting position of the carriage and at the front end of the type 5 so that when rocked upwardly and forwardly from its normal substantially horizontal position, the inking ribbon will be similarly lifted and carried forwardly beyond the type to permit the latter to be removed and replaced-without touching or handling the ribbon.

The closed end of the U-shaped frame -16 normally extends some distance beyond the rear end of the machine and is provided with opposed supporting legs or feet 19 adapted to rest upon the surface of a table A upon which the machine is mounted at either end of the frame laccording to the position of the frame 16-.

This cross bar or closed end of the usual frame -16 also forms a handle by which the frame with the ribbon thereon may be swung from one extreme position to the other. I

The opposite ends of the drum -11 are supported in suitable bearings 20' and 20-, one of which as 20, is spring: pressed toward the other by means of a spring -21 which in turn is secured to a post --22 on the adjacent side of the frame -l6 to yieldingly hold the drum in operative position and permit it to be replaced when it is desired to remove or replace the ribbon.

The inking ribbon 7 is of sulficient width and length to cover the entire area of the type in the frame 4.- and is adapted to receive and support the sheets of paper and envelopes to be printed and addressed and in order that these articles may be uniformly alined inthe machine at least one side of the frame l is provided with a paper and envelope guide 23- alOng one edge of the printing web or ribbon 7 as shown in Figure 1.

In operation, the sheets and envelopes to be printed upon are placed flatwise upon the upper surface of the inking ribbon with one edge resting against the guide -23, the inking ribbon being extended to its normal position as shown 1n the drawings.

When the paper and envelopes are properly adjusted, the carriage -3 with the pressure roller 9 thereon are moved rearwardly and returned to cause the impression of the type to be made upon the paper sheet and envelope through the medium of the inking ribbon.

Usually one operation of the carriage rearward and return is suflicient to produce the desired impression upon the paper, sheet and envelope and this operation may be repeated as maybe required by simply removing the printed sheets and replacing them with other blank sheets.

When it is desired to change the type as for example, for different names and addresses, the frame --16- is rocked upwardly and forwardly to the position shown by dotted lines in Figure 3, thus exposing the type and permitting the removal and replacement of those which may be desired after which the frame -16 with the ribbon thereon may be returned ready for a repetition of the operation previously described.

What I claim is:

In a printing press, the combination of a frame, a printers chase mounted in the frame, a carriage and pressure roller mounted thereon movable lengthwise of the frame across the upper surface of the chase, an inking ribbon extending across the surface of the chase, a drum at one end of the chase for supporting one end of the ribbon, a separate drum at the opposite end of the chase for. supporting the other end of the ribbon and a supporting frame for the second named drum hinged to the frame of the machine to carry said drum from a position at one end to a position at the opposite end of the chase.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 19th day of April, 1924.

JOHN J. GREEN. Witnesses:

H. E. CHAsn, R. CAMroLm'ro. 

